a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fault information management system and method for implementing a fault information management system in a vehicle. In particular, when a vehicle controller fails, the fault information management system enables information and history thereof to be managed by a fault management logic and to be stored in a designated memory. The fault information management system is readily applied to fault management methods of various controllers by constituting a program module for managing fault information of a vehicle and adjusting a fault state transition by establishing a fault management reference for each fault item.
b) Description of the Prior Art
In general, a process for managing a fault of controllers and various sensors of a vehicle is defined as OBD (On-Board Diagnostics), and the enactment of the process thereof are different in each country.
According to the enactments, matters relating to a management of fault information for various controllers of a vehicle and a fault lamp are described therein. Basic information for a vehicle (rpm, engine temperature, etc.) that is stored when the vehicle is not operating is also specified therein. Therefore, the enactments are considered as being essential when developing a vehicle controller.
Since various controllers of a vehicle have a self diagnostic function, the controllers receive signals from various sensors attached to devices to be diagnosed and detect a function state of each device. The controller then stores a diagnostic code corresponding to the detected function state in the inside memory. However, it is a disadvantage that diagnostic codes stored in respective controllers can be sent outside (i.e. output) in various ways. Therefore, a fault information history of a vehicle sometimes cannot be managed properly.
The present invention provides a fault information management system which solves the problem described above.